Isle of Wight Heritage

From hosting a fleeing Empress in 1870 to staging rock bands in the 1960s, the Royal York in Ryde has moved from high drama to slow dereliction.

The pioneering Enfield 8000 electric car project came to an abrupt halt when its Cowes-based manufacturer announced closure – on 13th May 1976.

The Isle of Wight remained largely calm as the 9-day General Strike came to an end across Britain on 12th May 1926.

Still trading in Freshwater today, Orchard Bros has served locals and visitors since 1865...

Newport IW FC lifted the Dr Martens Eastern Division title to carry Isle of Wight football to Step 3 of the non-league pyramid, on this day, some 25 years ago.

Once opened in a blaze of luxury and sophistication, today the Ocean Hotel stands as a fire-scarred ruin overlooking Sandown Bay.

A Parkhurst inmate with pro-IRA sympathies was found with chemicals, bomb-making material and a crude Molotov cocktail on 27th April 1996 - 30 years ago today.

Do you remember walking into a record shop, flicking through rows of vinyl and wondering how to spend your last few quid? For many Islanders, that place was Happy Daze in Newport...

A mother of 6 killed her husband with an axe at their Norton Green home, shocking the West Wight community, on 21st April 1946 - 80 years ago today.

Opened in 1864 on the Isle of Wight Railway’s first line, Brading station later became a busy junction before becoming one of the Island’s most intriguing railway survivors.